Spike and cleat guard

ABSTRACT

A plastic molded spike and/or cleat guard is provided which fits on the bottom of certain sports shoes such as baseball, track, golf or football shoes and protects the spikes or cleats from hard surfaces.

United States Patent [1 1 Barbito, Sr.

[451 May 20, 1975 2/1962 McCann 9/1973 Frisch et al.

Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures SPIKE AND CLEAT GUARD [76] Inventor: Robert Barbito, Sr., 1426 Chalet Ave., Anaheim, Calif. 92802 [22] Filed: Apr. 1, 1974 [21] App]. No.: 457,061

[52] US. Cl. 36/25 AN [51] Int. Cl. A43b [58] Field of Search 36/2.5 AN, 7.6

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,372,501 3/1945 Lawrence 36/25 AN SPIKE AND CLEAT GUARD This invention relates to a device for protecting sports shoes. In particular. the invention relates to a plastic molded guard which fits on the spikes or cleats of sports shoes to protect such spikes or cleats from hard surfaces such as cement.

Shoes for use in sports such as baseball. football, track, and golf have become more or less standard in design. For example, baseball shoes contain cleats attached to the bottom of the shoe and track and golf shoes contain spikes attached to the bottom of the shoe. The obvious purpose of such cleats and spikes is to allow the shoe to dig into the earth for better stability and mobility of the sportsman.

One problem in use of such sports shoes is when the sportsman is off of the playing field and walks on hard surfaces such as cement, asphalt, linoleum floors, etc.. such hard surfaces harm the spikes or cleats. In addition. it is sometimes difficult for the person to walk on such hard surfaces with shoes that are designed to dig into the earth and many accidents result from the instability of the shoes on hard surfaces.

On object of the invention is to provide a protective guard for sports shoes. Another object is to provide a guard for sports shoes which will make the shoes more safe when walking on hard surfaces and to prevent injuries to others. Other objects of the invention are apparent from the following description.

The invention described herein is relatively simple in design and numberous modifications can be made thereof to fit the particular sports shoes. Basically. the concept of the invention is the providing of a plate made of plastic, rubber, metal, preferably made ofplastic, with female inserts. The cleat or guard is easily fitted onto the bottom of the sports shoes and the spikes or cleats are inserted in the particular female por tions of the plate. The wearer of the shoe with protective guards thus puts on the guard just prior to stepping on the hard surface and the guard takes the blunt of the hard surface. As can be seen from a description to follow, the spikes or cleats do not directly touch the hard surface but are within the plastic mold or plate. Thus, the spike or cleat is protected from the hard surface. Other persons, such as other members of a baseball or track team or their competitors. who might come in close contact with the user are protected from potential injury by being spiked or cleated" from a shoe without the guard of this invention.

The invention herein comprises a plate or mold containing four or more bosses, the plate or mold being female mold or plate. One aspect of the invention is the providing of a mold or plate with indentations for the spikes or cleats to fit therein.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the guard; FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the guard; and FIG. 3 is a view showing the bottom of a typical guard.

Referring to FIG. 1, 1 indicates a hole, insert or female plate designated herein as a boss. Numerous "bosses" are provided depending on the number of spikes but normally are a minimum of four. Plate 1 is the main member and can be made of plastic, rubber or metal. Materials preferred are polyethylene or polypropylene or the like. The plate may be one-sixteenth inch to one-quarter inch in thickness and is normally more or less the same thickness of the sole of the particular sports shoes. The dimensions of the mold or plate are not critical. The length of the spike or cleat, however, controls the thickness of the plate in that the plate serves to contain the holes or bosses in which are fitted onto the spike or cleat. Obviously. the plate must be thicker than the length of the spike or cleat.

Within the plate which is preferably plastic molded. are openings such as bosses. Such are depicted as 2 in FIG. 2. The boss of FIG. 2 is a hole; however. as stated above, the boss can be an insert or other configuration to provide a female member to contain the male" spike or cleat. The spike or cleat is inserted in each of the bosses so that the plate in on the underside of the shoe. The bottom of the boss may be enclosed or may be open provided that the spike or cleat does not extend more than the boss and touch the hard surface or other persons.

In the case of baseball shoes containing cleats. the openings or bosses are in the form of slots, within the plastic molded plate. The cleats of the baseball shoes are simply fitted into the slots. For track, the bosses are in the form of circular inserts or holes. preferably.

The plastic molded plate itself follows the contour of the particular sports shoe and may be standard in form.

A preferred enbodiment of the invention is where certain ribs" are shown connecting the bosses for greater security. Such are shown in FIG. 3 as 3. The ribs can connect each of the bosses 2 in the form of holes or slots which are connected to the plate 1.

Another preferred enbodiment is simply a plastic mold containing inserts or slots to have female bosses or parts.

The ribs reinforce and stabilize the mold or plate.

In another preferred enbodiment. certain loops shown as 4 are connected through standard means to the plastic molded plate. The loops provide means for straps to connect and help secure the shoe to the guard.

I claim:

1. A spike guard comprising a sole supporting plate containing four or more female bosses. means for securing said plate in contact with the underside ofa shoe containing spikes and adapted so that the said spikes become inserted inside said bosses and said plate is on the underside of said shoe.

2. The invention of claim I wherein the plate is plastic and is thicker than the spikes.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the bottom of said bosses are open. 

1. A spike guard comprising a sole supporting plate containing four or more female bosses, means for securing said plate in contact with the underside of a shoe containing spikes and adapted so that the said spikes become inserted inside said bosses and said plate is on the underside of said shoe.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the plate is plastic and is thicker than the spikes.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the bottom of said bosses are open. 